Arachidonoyl glyceryl ether

The mammalian endocannabinoid family inclndes fonr lipid Af-fatty acyl-ethanolamines (NAEs), two Af-acyl-dopamines, a lipid ester, and a lipid ether. The NAEs are Af-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (anan-damide, AEA) (Devane et al., 1992), docosatetraenoyl-ethanolamide and di-homo-y-hnolenoyl-ethanolamide (Hanus et al., 1993), and O-arachidonoyl ethanolamide (virodhamine) (Porter et al., 2002). The Af-acyl-dopamines are Af-arachidonoyl-dopamine (NADA) and Af-oleoyl-dopamine (Hnang et al., 2002). The lipid ester is sn-2 arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) (Mechonlam et al., 1995 Sugiura et al., 1995). The lipid ether is sn-2 arachidonoyl glyceryl ether (noladin ether) (Hanus et al., 2001). 

The subsequent discovery of the endocannabinoids, arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide) (Devane et al. 1992b Hanus et al. 1993) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) (Di Marzo 1998 Mechoulam et al. 1995 Stella et al. 1997) has led to a better understanding of the physiological and biochemical roles of the endocannabinoid system. 2-Arachidonyl glyceryl ether, also known as noladin ether (Hanus et al. 2001), has been proposed as a representative of a third endocannabinoid class. However, noladin ether s pathway of formation has not been characterized and its occurrence in the normal brain has been questioned (Oka et al. 2003). 

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